Cab-coupling



E. L. KEELER.

I Car Coupling.

Patented Aug. 2, 1859.

Inventor! Mj UNTTED OFFICE.

EDWARD L. KEELER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 24,938, dated August 2, 1859.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Eowam) L. Kantian, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Couplings for Railroad-Cars; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the annexed drawings, forming part of this specification,in which Figure 1, is a perspective representation of the under side oftwo rail-road trucks connected together with my improved coupling. Fig.2 is a representation of one of my coupling shafts, detached from thebottom of the truck. Fig. 3 is a representation or top view of twocoupling shafts in the position they assume when the trucks to whichthey are respectively attached are coupled together.

My invention and improvement consists in the use of beveled headcoupling bars of the peculiar construction hereinafter described incombination with a spring to each coupling bar whereby they are causedto recover their position for repeated action, and kept firmly in placein a coupled position, my improved coupling possessing the followingimportant characteristics, viz: When two trucks are brought sufficientlynear to each other, the coupling shafts form a locking connection ofthemselves, the coupling being self-acting; that any two cars may beinstantaneously uncoupled even when the train is in rapid motion, bysimply turning a winch or handle; that so long as the cars remain on thetrack, the coupling will not become unlocked excepting by the voluntaryact. of turning the winch to uncouple the cars, but so soon as any oneor more of the trucks or cars in a train is thrown off the track, suchcar or cars immediately become detached from the train, so that when onecar leaves the track it has no tendency to draw off the car to which itis attached.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improvedcoupling, I will proceed to explain its construction and operation.

In the drawing Fig. 1, a and a are two trucks or cars constructed in theusual manner; Y) 7) are the coupling shafts which are attachedunderneath the car to the platform or bottom of the frame. The shape ofthese coupling shafts is seen more clearly in Fig.

3. The head 0 of each coupling shaft projects beyond the end of the car,and also a small portion of the rounded part of the shaft, as seen inFig. 1. The shaft 1) is fastened to the bed of the car by a journal boxcl, the diameter of the journal of the shaft being less than that of theother parts of the shaft, so as to form a. shoulder on the shaft oneither side of the journal box d, and thus prevent any backward orforward motion of the shaft. The rear end of the shaft terminates in aspring 6, consisting of a bar of steel which is inserted at one end inthe coupling shaft 7), while the other extremity of the spring isfastened in a block f. The effect of the spring 6 is to permit the shaftto rotate partially on its axis in the journal box (Z, when force isapplied to it, and to cause it to resume a position uniformly the samewhen the force is withdrawn. It also prevents the accidental uncouplingof the cars by the jolting of the train or by any slight force appliedto the heads of the coupling bars, and renders my coupling superior tothose coupling arrangements which depend on gravitation to keep thecoupling heads in their proper position.

A pulley 9, supported by a frame it, is placed in a suitable position atthe end of the car, and a rope or chain i, fastened at one end to thepulley g, its other end wound around the shaft Z), just back of the head0, of the coupling shaft; so that when the pulley is turned by the winchor handle 70, the coupling shaft is caused to turn about one fourtharound on its axis; and as soon as the winch 7c is released, the springcauses the shaft to recover its position as before stated. The head 0,of the coupling shaft, is triangular in shape on its upper side, beingbeveled on one side and terminating in a point, as seen at Fig. 3, whilethe under side is shaped as seen in Fig. 2, being sloped off in such amanner as that when the two opposite heads 0 and c of the couplingshafts of two cars come together, the shafts being unable to yieldsidewise, turn each of them a little on its axis, and thus allow theheads 0 and c to pass each other, and become locked together, as seen inFig. 1 and 3. Cars and trucks are usually to be furnished with twocoupling bars, one projecting from each end of the car, but thelocomotives and cars intended for the end of trains need have only one.A pulley for turning the coupling shaft and disconnect ing the carsshould be connected with each shaft, that is, one at each end of everycar.

Having thus described the construction of my improved coupling, I willproceed briefly to explain its mode of operation.

It is evident from what has been before stated that when two trucks orcars furnished with my coupling are brought together on the same track,that the shafts b b, will turn sufiiciently to allow their heads a and 0to'form a locking connection. Now so long as these two cars remain onthe track, this connection cannot be broken, without the turning of oneor both of the shafts, which will not occur otherwise than by design, asthe spring is strong enough to keep them in place, and prevent theirdisplacement. If however one of the cars should by any accident tilt upso far as to turn over sidewise, there is nothing to prevent theimmediate uncoupling of the cars; or if one of the cars runs off thetrack, the connection will be at once broken, as the coupling is onlyeffective when both cars to be united are on the track. Thus it ismanifest that in any accident which can happen to a train, rendering theseparation of the cars advisable, the coupling acts of itself andreleases the cars which remain on the track from those which run 05. Thegreat ease With which the cars may be uncoupled without any otheroperation than a slight turn of the winch no matter at

